Posted 4 years ago on July 8, 2012, 5:49 p.m. EST by letsdomore
(89)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

I suggest #OWS, or a dissenting branch, use the system for our benefit. NEWSFLASH! the 1% get things done because they have money.

Start a political Superpac or 501 (c)(4) and have us 99% contribute money to (Y)OUR cause. Do what the 1% do and start a few Superpacs. Create dialectics that confront the institutions that oppress the 99%.

Instead of being a pathetic Oliver Twist asking for more, a Huey Long type has to stand up on equal footing and deliver some heavy blows to the powers that be.

Build a sophisticated headquarters that delivers a strong political
impact that will help the 99%. Help the 99% get good people in this govt. We need to rattle the cages of our hijacked corrupt govt from within. Begging from the outside only gets people beat up and arrested!

Start a professional WEB news channel. Have an army of reporters
investigating all the institutionalized corruption the shameful corporate media intentionally ignores. We need tenacious reporters poking their noses into all the 1%'s wrong doings. Expose the crooks in Govt, banks, the fed, msm, etc, etc, etc! Broadcast
professional polished news reports that will gain notoriety with
the public.

It's demoralizing to watch #OWS sink deeper into irrelevance. The
results of solely protesting have demonstrated it's limits. People need
to believe they have a fighting chance of winning. The greater their
chance of winning, the more risk and commitment people are willing
to sacrifice for the cause. Few people will show up to a futile protest
only to get beat up and arrested by police. People want results or at
least the potential of winning.
Most of us know that the idealology of #OWS's anarchist core is
unrealistic. Their refusal to involve advocates in politics is a barrier to
overcoming the deep entrenchments of the oligarchs.

The masses know that anarchy is a pipe dream. Today's world has too many intractable problems for concensus to solve them. It's an admirable goal that someday humans can peacefully coexist without the need of a govt to protect us from the psychopaths. Unfortunately, today we have psychopaths running our govt controlled by the elites.

Your right, they will bring a bigger fire to the fight.. Only this time the voters are tired of getting burned. They are more eager than ever to embrace new choices. The people are done with the establishment, but have no where else to turn.

These days the Ds and Rs can spend 10x what a significant grass roots org does and lose. Their money is wasted broadcasting empty promises most voters will no longer listen to. Voters now hold disdain for "old politics" and are immune to the stale talking points. As long as a fresh message resonates with truth, there will be victories. And once the voters smell the blood of the wounded monsters destroying our country, look out !

It would only be counterfeiting if you were copying another currency. Design and print your own, and declare it legal tender amongst occupiers only. It's been happening in Greece for ages now, and there's an exchange "note" here in Australia for trade between growers and builders.

Our govt tried to figure out a way of taxing the barter system, but gave up in the end. There's farmer's markets and clothing stalls set up every weekend in every little tinpot town in Australia.

Simple solutions are what we need to initiate. The big players rely on us being insular and afraid. Reclaim your streets and open spaces. It's the start of the real bloodless coup that has to happen, for our children's sake.

For a complete analysis of the amendment issue,
and the text of all amendments,
and a comparison of all of the amendments,
and the Citizens United case transcript,
and the Citizens United decision,
and the Buckley decision
and analysis of corporate personhood
and analysis of Article III
and the ABC News poll
and the PFAW poll
and our voting bloc plan

Only three of those people presently hold elected office. If you think about it, that's an astonishingly short list. There are more than 500 legislators running our republic. You would think that many more would stand up and oppose such an insult to democracy.

Great idea except for one thing. Congress couldn't regulate jaywalking without a conflict of interest.

I'm afraid the major part of the regulation must be in the amendment or it will never happen. e.g. No contributions to any candidate anytime, at any level, not ever, never. Successful federal candidates agree to live on a generous pension with NO other income, (No cushy jobs, board seats, book deals, consulting contracts, jobs for family, scholarships, Swiss bank accounts etc.)

Congress has the power to tax. If they really wanted to do something they could put such heavy taxes on contributions above $100. they could effectively stop this.

All Constitutional Amendments are constitutional. Majority rules ....except where rights are concerned. You don't have the right to buy elections.

I have heard Constitutional scholars opine that the tax angle is Constitutional. Of course that is far from unanimous.

I would like to think that people have reacted to the CU decision, viscerally, knowing it was wrong, but I think if you offered a way to fix it and a lot other aspects of the corruption of good governance they would embrace it as well.

For a complete analysis of the amendment issue,
and the text of all amendments,
and a comparison of all of the amendments,
and the Citizens United case transcript,
and the Citizens United decision,
and the Buckley decision,
and analysis of corporate personhood,
and analysis of Article III,
and the ABC News poll,
and the PFAW poll,
and our voting bloc plan.

I did not hear about that and neither did most people I would guess. It wouldn't surprise me if most citizens couldn't name their representitives.

Too much obfuscated activity is going on with legislation. It is very difficult for the average citizen to follow their representitives. Each citizen must become their own detective. Researching, then trying to decipher the intentionally convoluted legislation.

I think there should by quarterly "Report cards" given to each citizen covering each representitive. Compiled by a non-partisan entity.
Being a concise but comprehensive report.

"The amendment as filed resolves that both Congress and individual states shall have the power to regulate both the amount of contributions made directly to candidates for elected office and “the amount of expenditures that may be made by, in support of, or in opposition to such candidates.”

Many of the proposed amendments give the power to Congress to decide what limits should be placed on campaign spending.
That is like putting the mafia in charge of regulating their own bootleg whiskey still. Regulation will never happen or continue to be a sham like it currently is!

Regulation needs to bypass Congress and be enacted by the people. If not by ballot, then by varied forms of civil disobedience directed toward all parts of the federal government.

"Regulation needs to bypass Congress and be enacted by the people."
What perecentage of Americans polled stand for this?
Seriously - and with respect -
why do intelligent people like you waste their time and effort on pipedreams? impossible goals?
Seriously - and with respect

Why not WORK on what 80% of Americans already say they want?
Severing the flood of money into government.
IT CAN BE DONE

Thinking that Congress will cut off it's own supply of funds from corporate and other wealthy people is a pipe dream. It will never happen. The laws we now have are a facade, with no real tooth, as will any that come after.

An amendment is required to stop Citizens United and other laws that allow improper amounts of political spending. It must exclude Congress from exercising any power to regulate it's own political funding. The majority of amendments I have seen give Congress that power instead of taking it away.
Why pass an amendment that will give the illusion of finance reform, but will not have any real effect?

The reality is that Congress cannot be trusted, it must be bypassed. They have opened the floodgates on spending. $1.5 billion raised so far in 2011-2012.

We need to stop this perverse money fuelled election process.
The following changes would greatly improve things:

public financing

term limits

6 month campaign limit

the end of the two party system

a band on members of organizations with non-sovereign interests.
such as: council on foreign relations, trilateral commission, etc.
These people are very detrimental to our nation's sovereign interests.
Members cannot run for elected office or have significant govt positions.

each voter gets a quarterly report card of their representitives in govt. This report would be by a non-partisan entity, being concise but comprehensive.

Ya know, I actually agree with this approach. That is, using money to get money out of politics. A 501 (c)(4) could be established for FreeDA. Ads would be run in areas featuring candidates who have signed FreeDA regardless of political affiliation. No money would go to any of their individual campaign ads. The ads would simply promote them in their non-partisan support of FreeDA.

So let's use the same unjust weapon the 1% uses? Have you forgotten what Democracy is? An equal voice among all of the people, not drowned out by another groups excessive contributions.

Super pacs cross state lines too. Contributors in California can influence elections in Maine. Should 1000's of out of state Occupy supporters be able to do that? Weren't you against all of the out of state money that flowed into Wisconsin recently?

If we stand for anything it should be for fairness. To use the same tactics that the corrupt use make us just as corrupt.

What democracy? Our political system is an illusion to make us think we are in control. It is no more real than a WWF wrestling match. What good is a democracy if by name only? Both parties fain conflict so that the public believes someone is fighting for them.
I would say a weapon is only unjust if it's used for unjust reasons.
As for "An equal voice among all the people" Does everyone own a fox news network to equally express their views? Please stop drinking so much kool aid.
By the way, did our founding fathers fight fair when confronted by injustice?
No, they used every devious tactic they could use to fight a stronger opponent. The 99% is constantly beat down with an onslaught of unjust resources. If our only method of resistance is to fight fair, there is no chance for us.

I'd like everyone to be awake, but those who divert the direction of progress are harming the cause.

The Injustice today is painful to witness. Once you break the code, it becomes so obvious just how much total control a few have over the masses.

The problem is at this point in human history is we're at a major epoch.The reason societies are collapsing all over the world is because the old industrial model for society is obsolete.
Technology has replaced human labor beyond the tipping point. The old model can no longer sustain our society. Globalization has accelerated the curve that is putting economies into an irreversable collapse.

Things are occuring so fast that govt leaders can no longer
conceal their control by the elite. They're outing themselves and have become bolder in adjusting govt and laws to protect the interests of the rich.

A completely different society must be engineered to replace
the old industrial model. Technology is remapping our future. It's insulting to the Human ego but,
Machines are superior to the human body,
computers are superior to the human mind and
artificial intelligence will soon be superior to human thinking.

There is a new path human race will soon have to
take. Hopefully it's one where technology does not devalue humans as it's doing today, but values humans.It's disturbing to watch today as things seem to be getting set up only for the 1%'s interests. If us 99% don't right the future's course soon there will be more suffering to change things later.

I can agree with that. I think also we must grow our movement. Bring people in! Not push them away. convince them of the correctness of our opinions.

We cannot convince people that "tech is devalueing them" by devalueing them ourselves! We need each other. We should treat each other as if we will be working together for a long time. The change you allude to, and that we need will not be overnight. It WILL take years. Lets start by committing to civil discussion even if we disagree.

Elect progressives, Vote out spineless dems who vote for right wing policies.

I agree, it will take years. My only problem is we may not have years to take. Within the next decade 30,000 unmanned drones can be licensed to fly over U.S. skys. All the encroachments on citizens privacy rights continue to escalate. If it wasn't for relatively recent human leaders such as Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, etc it wouldn't be as worrying.
If history has proven anything, it's that the most evil people eventually get the most power. There is a lot of injustice being promoted by leaders in the U.S. today. If enough injustice is established then it will be an short leap to outright evil.

Yes, redouble our efforts at least. That's why we must unite and get power behind our cause. Citizens united is a disgusting insult to equality in a democracy. But, those are the duelling weapons we.ve been handed. We must get a superpac and big money for our cause. If each of the 99% would contribute three dollars to a 99%'s superpac, that would approach 1 billion dollars. If that resulted in a honest govt, each dollar would come back a thousand fold.

I agree. I believe all campaigns should be publicly funded. Until then I would not unilaterally disarm. Use the superpacs if it is legal. Take money from anyone. Just don't trade any favors for the money. 3 bucks from everyone is great because it doesn't become a bribe.

I think the superpac should work to get public campaign funding certainly, and public health care option, Glass steagle, middle class debt forgiveness, expanded Pell grants, and much more.

"Democracy is an illusion" is a statement I totally agree with. When money buys an unequal voice in it's affairs, Democracy does not exist. A wealthy person's political ideology that masquerades as a news network is a clear example of what unfair speech is and should not be tolerated. It is the antithesis of Democracy.

Fighting injustice by using the same unjust methods the wealthy and corporate interests do is wrong. To paraphrase Ghandi, "We should not become the corruption we wish to see in the world", we should be the change that prevents that corruption from spreading.

This by no means is a criticism of our founding fathers. The truth is they did not conduct warfare consistent with that era's protocols. Use of snipers. The guerrilla tactics used after the battle of lexington and concord, The revolution's southern campaign hit and run raiding of the british positions and resouce supplies.
During the battle of Trenton, on the early morning of Dec 26,
Washington attacked the drunken Hessians who were
celebrating the holidays.
Let's be honest, the USA would not be if they had to face the British army only using "fair" tactics.
As for Ghandi, today in the U.S. he would probably be pepper
sprayed, beat up by the police, labeled a terrorist and thrown into a prison cell next to Bradley Manning. Never to be heard from again.

I wish everyday we could all go skipping through the park with a pretty girl picking daisies. Unfortunately we are in a serious fight against some unscrupulous people. Besides, I don't think using money to fight for good is something bad.
Today it is estimated that 137,000 Americans a year die from not having healthcare. A huge number of our leaders are fighting to keep it that way! That's pure evil. There is plenty more evil out there. By all means let's use devious tactics to fight it. Money can be used for good too.

Yeah, they don't want to play patty cakes. Look what happened in the Seattle raid. They're just getting started. We've only seen their baby steps so far. NDAA, Fema camps, Executive orders, planning 30,000 surveillance drones with infra-red, Militarized police forces. , Ghandi didn't have to face all this. Today the police would bitch slap Ghandi and throw him in a cell next to Bradly Manning. All to save us from terrorism of course.

The system is flawed because Big $ controls it! We the People have ceded it to them by encouraged abandonment, neglect and ignorance!!!

No, We the People "aren't aware." Learning that "nothing works" and Voting "makes no difference" is the brainwash swill Big $ wants us to believe! Is this your naivete or deception? Either way it's DEAD WRONG!!

Orwell's "Newspeak" and "Doublethink" are in full operation.

This jerk is definitely a Big Part of the Problem!!

Get out the Vote, people!! If it didn't matter these bastards wouldn't be trying soooo fucking hard to suppress it!! And they will stop at nothing!!!

It would be great to screw with Obama and Romney. Have a superpac run a liberal candidate against Obama. Then run a Conservative candidate against Romney. Run them heavy in "up for grabs" swing states. Who cares if our "other party" candidates only get 3-6% of the vote.That will be enough to change history. They're both puppets so who cares.

Both are willing to screw over the American people, so why not screw with them.

another idea, is to consecrate all our goods, money and property to a church that we form, so that all our money and land becomes tax free, and then as each member is a equal coowner, we redistribute all that we make to help take care of ourselves, and f the government!

I got a better idea. Finland has the #1 ranked govt in the world. The U.S. govt is ranked #28 (on a good day). Here's the plan. OWS sneaks into Finland and kidnaps the finnish govt(don't worry, it's easy, the Finns sleep great knowing they have the best run country in the world). Then we kick our currupt govt off capitol shill and put Finland's govt in their place.
The USA will finally have the best govt in the world running things.
Great jobs, great healthcare, great retirement plan, great future, great schools, etc.
I'm just saying.

After the fall of the USSR these organizations can now pursue unopposed global aspirations.
They're using the resources of our sovereign nation to destroy our nations future and we're just along for the ride. We stand by and watch as they drain our wealth with unfunded wars and transfer our industrial base under the guise of free trade.

The discussion of inequality has crept into the news cycle, despite the lack of Occupy coverage. If Occupy were to end right this second, it did what it set out to do. It made people comfortable in challenging the 1% and admitting to their financial or social disposition, in the face of patriotic rhetoric and fact-free media. Every day that Occupy is still protesting is one more day of victory.

Yes but it's muted in it's effect. The msm poses the condition of inequality as if it is a futile inevitability. They also have misrepresented the traits of ows members ,as lazy, frustrated campers who are jealous of the hard working elite job creators. They have diverted public support making osw unpalatable to the general public.

So people that have begun discussing how they are getting screwed are suddenly going to change their minds and think "Letting some douchebag takes the lions share of profit from my labor while I can't even buy shoes for my kid isn't so bad after all"?

Definitely. They have been controlling public perceptions for generations. They can steer public opinion around a formula 1 race track. Those who own the media, own the people's minds. As long as they spin things the right way, people will thank them for not letting things be worse.
How do you think they can get a struggling public that would be benefitted to save for their future, give it all back to the 1%'s institutions. It's like an old cotton mill town.

Fear is the biggest motivator for humans. You can always fear something worse than you're fearing now. Every time I watch "The dog whisperer", I image the elite having think tanks with "human whisperers". Experts just Sitting around a big table figuring out how to train the people for the next big problem.

quote: "Do we have a free press today? Sure. It's free to report all the sex scandals, all the stock market news, every new health fad that comes down the pike. But when it comes to real down and dirty stuff -such stories are not even up for discussion" John Kelly, ABC producer.

My suggestions would be, find out who is funding Al Jazeera news, and the RT news channel, and request a daily/weekly press spot. Seek a delegate from every current #ows group, for a national summit, to see where the movement is actually heading, state by state. Ask for funding from all of the union movements that previously supported this movement.

More to come, as I think of it.

Oh, and one focus point would be, use the current "crisis" in Greece and Spain as an example of what happens when the IMF takes control of your country, and does the clearance sale/privatization, of all the country's assetts. It won't be long before there is nothing left to sell, and the payments are in default again.

Sounds good. It would be nice to have specialized departments with
dedicated experts. Have focused, comprehensive reports the msm can;t discredit and the public can trust.
There is so much dirt to expose on the 1%, once the public can trust in something good, look out.

You may have come to the wrong place to get support for a superpac or political action. Have you ever thought that maybe ows was designed and instigated by the 1% from behind the scenes? Build a limited movement that stops short of significant change. Anarchists have never gotten anywhere in history. It is the perfect formula bound to fail.
No leaders, no political involvement, no traction with the public. A perfect movement that ends in failure.

The powers that be my have known that the public was going to eventually boil over with all the s**t they are pulling. So they decided to beat them to the punch. Start a movement they can control and let the people blow off some steam.
It also proves to the people that fighting against the establishment is hopeless.

OK, so all these people are going to conspire to camp out in freezing cold parks, Then get beat up, pepper sprayed and arrested by the cops. They are not the 1%. What motovatiion would they have to go through all that and get nothing?

Not at all. I bet 99% of them are genuine. Most people who get caught up in a conspiracy are not complicit.
Who knows, but let's just say truthers are onto something. I would imagine all the terrorists involved in 9/11 were suckers. The powers that be could have theoretically come up with the idea. Bankrolled it
and planted the idea surreptitiously within the terrorist hierarchy.
The terrorist believe they came up with 9/11. But, when you look at the outcome TPTB were able to exploit so much more from the 99% than would otherwise have been possible.

We're not. That is just an example of how little involvement is needed to start a conspiracy. Hell, our whole world is a conspiracy!
The 1% have set the conspiracy up and the other 99% of us are unwilling/unknowing participants. The govt is bought and paid for. The Fed prints our money and burys the nation in debt. The rest of the 99% are made into debt slaves. Now the 1% want the 99% to work till they drop dead. Retirement at 80 if you leave it up to the 1%.

(Excerpt) "The (Political) system is flawed because Big $ controls it! We the People have ceded it to them by encouraged abandonment, neglect and ignorance!!!

"No, We the People "aren't aware." Learning that "nothing works" and Voting "makes no difference" is the brainwash swill Big $ wants us to believe! Is this your naivete or deception? Either way it's DEAD WRONG!!

"Orwell's "Newspeak" and "Doublethink" are in full operation.

"Get out the Vote, people!! If it didn't matter, these bastards wouldn't be trying soooo fucking hard to suppress it!! And they will stop at nothing!!!"